[S-SARA] Final Accreditation and State Authorization Regulations

Tue Mar 3 10:58:02 CST 2020

You're welcome! I'll be back up in your area in April. I'll be attending the WCET meeting in Largo MD and flying in through Ronald Reagan airport. Are you going?
https://wcet.wiche.edu/sites/default/files/Summit-Preliminary-Agenda-V5.pdf

Wanda

From: S-SARA <s-sara-bounces at lists.onenet.net> On Behalf Of Elise A Scanlon
Sent: Tuesday, March 3, 2020 11:52 AM
To: s-sara at lists.onenet.net
Subject: Re: [S-SARA] Final Accreditation and State Authorization Regulations

Thank you Wanda!

From: S-SARA <s-sara-bounces at lists.onenet.net<mailto:s-sara-bounces at lists.onenet.net>> On Behalf Of Wanda Barker
Sent: Tuesday, March 3, 2020 11:47 AM
To: 's-sara at lists.onenet.net' <s-sara at lists.onenet.net<mailto:s-sara at lists.onenet.net>>
Subject: [S-SARA] FW: Final Accreditation and State Authorization Regulations

Good morning,
Please read the attached letter from Diane Auer Jones of the Education Department. The information in the letter is not a change, but a clarification. It includes information on regional vs. national accreditation, as well as clarifications about state authorization, which reflects information previously confirmed by the former administration in an unofficial letter from Ted Mitchell - but is now in an official format.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.
Best wishes,
Wanda

Wanda Barker
Director, Education Technology and Multistate Cooperative Programs
Southern Regional Education Board
592 10th Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
404-879-5558

From: Stratman, Karen <Karen.Stratman at ed.gov<mailto:Karen.Stratman at ed.gov>>
Sent: Monday, March 2, 2020 4:38 PM
To: ED Stakeholder <EDStakeHolder at ed.gov<mailto:EDStakeHolder at ed.gov>>
Subject: Final Accreditation and State Authorization Regulations

Dear Higher Education Colleagues,

Attached and below, please find a letter from Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Education (delegated the duties of Under Secretary) Diane Jones re: final accreditation and state authorization regulations.  You are encouraged to share this letter with your member institutions, interested staff and other stakeholders where you believe there is interest.

If you or your staff or members have any questions, please contact the U.S. Department of Education's Accreditation Group at 202-453-7615 or aslrecordsmanager at ed.gov<mailto:aslrecordsmanager at ed.gov>.

Thank you for your help in dissemination.

Karen

Karen Stratman
Director, Nat'l Engagement
U.S. Department of Education (ED)

Dear State Leaders,

This letter is to inform you that the U.S. Department of Education (Department) has published final regulations relating to the accreditation of institutions of higher education, as well as State authorization requirements for distance education, which may have an impact on your State.

The final regulations published this year were developed by a diverse negotiated rulemaking panel, which reached consensus in April 2019.  The Department published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making based on the consensus language, and received approximately 200 comments from the public regarding the proposed regulations.  The Department responded to those comments, as appropriate, in the final regulation.  With the exception of a few provisions relating to the recognition of accrediting agencies, which will take effect July 1, 2021, the accreditation and State authorization regulations will take effect on July 1, 2020.

Below we highlight several key provisions of the final regulation that could have an impact on States.  We are providing this notification to help you plan appropriately.

Regional versus National Accreditation
The Department is aware that some States have enacted laws and policies that treat institutions and the students who attend them differently based solely on whether the institution is accredited by a "national" accrediting agency or a "regional" accrediting agency.  For example, some States limit opportunities to sit for occupational licensing exams to students who have completed a program at a regionally accredited institution.  In other instances, transfer of credit determinations at public institutions, and other benefits provided by States, are limited to students who attended regionally accredited institutions.

Since the Department holds all accrediting agencies to the same standards, distinctions between regional and national accrediting agencies are unfounded.  Moreover, we have determined that most regional accreditors operate well outside of their historic geographic borders, primarily through the accreditation of branch campuses and additional locations.  As a result, our new regulations have removed geography from an accrediting agency's scope.  Instead of distinguishing between regional and national accrediting agencies, the Department will distinguish only between institutional and programmatic accrediting agencies.  The Department will no longer use the terms "regional" or "national" to refer to an accrediting agency.

Because the Department will no longer distinguish between "regional" and "national" accrediting agencies, we wanted to provide States with advanced notice of this change so that State leaders will have sufficient opportunity to adjust State laws, regulations, or policies accordingly.

State Authorization
The Department's revised Accreditation and State Authorization regulations also make changes to State authorization requirements.  For example, in order for a distance education provider to serve students in a State other than the one in which the institution has a physical presence, either the State in which the institution is located or the State in which the student is located must have a process in place to receive and review student complaints.  We encourage all States to implement the appropriate policies and processes to accept, investigate and respond to student complaints.

In addition, because it is important for all students - and not just those who enroll in distance education - to understand whether the program in which they are enrolled will qualify them to work in certain occupations in a given State, the revised regulations require both ground-based and online programs to notify students accordingly.  However, the revised regulations require an institution to tell students whether the program will or will not meet licensure requirements in a particular State, or in the event that the institution has not made that determination, where a student would go to find that information.

The revised regulation continues to recognize State reciprocity agreements such that an institution participating in a State reciprocity agreement will have satisfied the Department's State authorization requirements in any State that also participates in the reciprocity agreement.  In response to public comments, the Department provided further clarity that, while States participating in a State authorization reciprocity agreement may still enforce their own general-purpose State laws and regulations outside of the State authorization of distance education, States participating in a reciprocity agreement may not impose additional distance education regulations or requirements upon institutions that participate in such agreements.

The Department of Education is providing informational webinars to help States, institutions of higher education and accreditors understand what is required of them under our new regulations.  The webinars can be found on the Department's website at https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2018/index.html<https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww2.ed.gov%2Fpolicy%2Fhighered%2Freg%2Fhearulemaking%2F2018%2Findex.html&data=01%7C01%7Cwanda.barker%40sreb.org%7C2fc88924d1244e2ef61508d7bf934a9e%7Ceb20950b168c497a98452b099844f3ef%7C0&sdata=U9eMGz3YpCObAQ7yyRLlzUcGG7e8i2qBnTVl19p6rtY%3D&reserved=0>.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Accreditation Group at the Department of Education at aslrecordsmanager at ed.gov<mailto:aslrecordsmanager at ed.gov> or 202-453-7615.

Sincerely,

Diane Auer Jones

Principal Deputy Under Secretary

Delegated the Duties of Under Secretary
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